Overview

The Atlantic Coast Woodcock Initiative centers on Bird Conservation Region 30, which stretches from southwestern Maine south through coastal New Hampshire, most of Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island, most of Connecticut, New York’s Long Island, southern New Jersey, the Delmarva Peninsula of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, and those counties in mainland Maryland and Virginia bordering Chesapeake Bay.

This region lies in the coastal plain. By the early 1900s about 70 percent of the land had been cleared for farming and settlement. After many farms were abandoned in the mid-1900s, young brushy forest grew up. Since then, urban development and the maturing of forests have caused a steady decline in the amount of habitat available to woodcock and other wild creatures that need young forest for food and cover.

Woodcock breed in the Atlantic Coast region, and timberdoodles that breed farther north migrate through this important coastal corridor. Young-forest habitats provide crucial resting and feeding areas to woodcock shifting between the northern primary breeding range and wintering areas farther south. Some woodcock may winter in extreme southern New Jersey, the Delmarva Peninsula, and parts of Virginia adjacent to Chesapeake Bay.

Another wild animal that needs young forest is the New England cottontail, found in parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York covered by the Atlantic Coast Woodcock Initiative. The New England cottontail is a candidate for the federal endangered species list. Creating young-forest and shrubland habitat for woodcock also benefits the New England cottontail, whose population has dwindled in recent decades because of habitat loss.

Partners in the Atlantic Coast Woodcock Initiative include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, Ruffed Grouse Society, Audubon Society, and the Wildlife Management Institute. (View a list of partners in the Atlantic Coast Initiative.)

Wildlife biologists are developing a set of Best Management Practices tailored to benefit woodcock in this region.

There are both effective and ineffective ways to create woodcock habitat. Context of Management gives guidance on where, and where not, to actively manage land for this species.

Partners in the Atlantic Coast Woodcock Initiative are creating Demonstration Areas to showcase habitat management techniques to help woodcock, New England cottontail, and other young-forest wildlife.